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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
A POLICE officer from Bulawayo undergoing disciplinary action for allegedly deserting the force appeared in court yesterday with his wife for running a drug cartel that sold dangerous substances to clients, among them, school children.

Police recovered about 5kg of dagga, 420x100ml of Adco-Salterpyn cough syrup and Bron Cleer cough syrup including about 280 Diazepam tablets all valued at more than $11 000 following a raid at the couple’s home on Friday last week.

Samuel Tambooneyi (29) and his wife Pride Chaingei (27) both residing along Masotsha Avenue and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street were arrested following a sting operation at their house.

They appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Gladmore Mushove facing charges of possession of dagga and preparatory medicine without prescription.

They were remanded out of custody to December 14 on $100 bail each.

As part of the bail conditions, the couple was ordered to reside at its given address and not interfere with State witnesses.

Prosecuting, Mr Charles Nyamukubva said on December 7 at around 10PM, police received a tip off that the accused persons were illegally dealing in drugs at their house.

“Constables Mazokera, Sibanda, Madyara and Mangwiro teamed up and proceeded to the accused persons’ house and put it under surveillance following a tip-off.

“During their investigations, they observed people moving in and out of the house,” said Mr Nyamukubva.

They four cops became suspicious and pounced on the accused persons and searched the house leading to the recovery of 4,49kg of dagga, 400x100ml of Adco-Salterpyn cough syrup, 17x100ml of Bron Cleer cough syrup and 320 Diazepam tablets all valued at $11 340.

The couple was arrested. The couple allegedly sourced the dagga from Malawi and got the cough mixtures and tablets from a syndicate based in South Africa.

A majority of teens usually guzzle cough mixtures to get drunk quickly without spending as much money as they would to achieve the same state through taking alcohol.

According to online reports, Diazepam, which is also known as Valium, can cause death especially if it is mixed with other drugs. It is mainly used under controlled environments to treat depression, anxiety and seizures.

However, it is widely used illegally to achieve an instant high, by mixing it with alcohol and other drugs.

According to medical experts, prolonged use of Diazepam can cause liver, bladder and kidney damage.

—@mashnets